It is frequently necessary to coat a substrate with a fluid during a manufacturing process. The application of the coatings may be for protective purposes or as part of the manufacturing process, and it is frequently essential that the fluid be applied in a uniform manner. Many manufacturing processes produce a substrate in a continuous manner as a web, and require the coating to be applied to the web as it is produced. A typical application for such coating is in the steel industry where an oil based lubricant is applied to a moving metal strip. The lubricant is required to assist in the further processing of the steel strip, and, accordingly, the film thickness of the lubricant must be uniform. Failure to provide a uniform coating will lead to inconsistencies in the further manufacturing process and the possibility of damage to the manufacturing equipment.
The coating is frequently applied through an array of spray nozzles positioned in the path of the substrate. Each of the spray heads has a number of nozzles that in ideal circumstances will produce a uniform spray pattern and distribute the sprayed fluid evenly. There is a possibility that the nozzles may become blocked or experience wear, which can produce an uneven spray pattern, and consequently an uneven coating. When such a defect is discovered, it may be necessary to call back significant quantities of material that have been processed with a possibly defective coating. Therefore, the efficacy of the coating is typically inspected periodically, but usually by manual observation. This is both time consuming and inconsistent, and requires significant skill on the part of the operator to recognize the existence of a fault.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus in which the above disadvantages are obviated or mitigated.